


Sleepless in... Well

by mollswinchester



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alive Laura Hale, Alternate Hale Fire, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Emotional Baggage, Emotional Constipation, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gay Stiles Stilinski, Insomniac Stiles Stilinski, Kindergarten Teacher Derek Hale, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Photographer Stiles Stilinski, Pining Stiles Stilinski, Sarcastic Stiles, Stiles Has Panic Attacks, Waiter Stiles Stilinski
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-29
Updated: 2018-07-06
Packaged: 2019-05-30 04:27:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15088979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mollswinchester/pseuds/mollswinchester
Summary: Stiles moves to Seattle to clear his head, though he never anticipates the late-night conversations to be had with his grumpy neighbor on their balconies.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so I'm aware I have other works in progress that I should be prioritizing, but here's the thing, now that I'm out of school, my ADHD is having a field day without the brain-stimulation. So really, I can't decide what it wants me to do. Here you go, my friends. 
> 
> content warnings in the end-notes :)

He moves in on a Wednesday. Seattle is a big city, one Stiles has always enjoyed visiting, and it’s far enough from Beacon Hills that he doesn’t feel suffocated anymore. 

There’s a lot of white in his new home: walls, appliances, tile floors in the bathroom and kitchen. It’s a clean slate, bright and shiny. 

Before he came, he found a job as a waiter in a restaurant downtown and is taking classes at the local community college. Stiles is nineteen years old and has only just decided to start college. It’s not entirely his fault that he missed out on his full ride to MIT; he’s had a rough couple of years. Luckily he didn’t waste his time at MIT, though, because a year later Stiles is fairly certain he is not meant to pursue a degree in bioengineering. His interest has since tampered out. 

Since avoiding school for a year and now, running away from Beacon Hills, Stiles has found a bit of solace in taking pictures. He’s pretty good, and it’s a cathartic sort of activity for him. Which is why, as soon as he carries his last box up to his apartment, he walks out onto his balcony with his camera to snap a few shots. 

The city lights are beautiful and after a few pictures, he turns the camera off, content just to look. 

“Are you new?”

“Shit!” Stiles scrambles, trying not to drop his camera over the edge of his balcony when he looks to the right and sees a man, illuminated by the lights of the skyscrapers around them, staring at him from the neighboring balcony. Stiles can’t see him perfectly, uneven shadows scattered across his face, but he can tell he’s strongly built. Has some facial hair and a pair of glasses perched on his nose. He’s wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt. 

“Oh, uh, me?” Stiles asks, feeling stupid. Of course he’s talking to him, there’s no one else on his balcony. Well, Stiles assures himself of that fact after fervently glancing behind him. 

“Yes, you.”

“Yeah. New to the city, new to the building.”

“Oh. Well, I’m Derek.”

“Stiles.” The look on Derek’s face is enough to tell Stiles exactly what he’s thinking. “It’s a nickname. My real name is polish and hard to pronounce, so.”

‘Ah.”

“How long have you lived here?” Derek looks at Stiles like he’d rather not have a conversation, but it’s really not his fault. Most balconies nowadays have a cement border between them, so you can’t see your neighbor. This place must not value privacy. 

“A while. Six years, maybe.”

“Do you work?”

“Uhuh.”

“What do you do?”

“I’m a kindergarten teacher.”

“Was that a joke?”

“No. Why is it so hard to believe?”

“It’s just… you’re this big, macho, handsome dude and my kindergarten teacher was a frail old lady with two hearing aids and a cane.”

“You called me handsome.”

Stiles frowns. “I’m going inside, now,” he says, and Derek nods, like that’s the only logical course of action after their exchange. Once Stiles slides the glass door shut behind him, safe inside his apartment, he sighs and decides to call it a night. 

Xxx

A few days later, Stiles realizes that he doesn’t have good reception inside his apartment and that the only place he can effectively take a call is out on the balcony. It doesn’t make sense, really, seeing as how he’s in the middle of a big city with cell towers all around, but that’s just how it is. 

“Dad?”

“Hey, kid. You settled in?”

“Pretty much. Still have a lot of unpacking to do, but I’ve got my bed set up, so I’m good. 

“You know I don’t like you living up there all alone. I wish you’d at least stay in California.”

“And you know I had to get out of California, dad.”

“I know why you think you had to leave. I still don’t understand. But I also don’t blame you. I just hope you don’t forget about your old man.”

“You’re being overdramatic. You know that, right?”

“You had to get it from somewhere.” Stiles laughs and then the line is quiet for a while. “I don’t like that I can’t be there in a split second if you need me.”

“Dad, seriously, I’m okay. I’m a grown-ass adult now. And besides, I have a job here. I’m going to help you pay the Eichen House bills. It’ll be good for both of us, I swear.”

“I trust you, Stiles.”

“Good.”

“Alright, well I gotta get to work, but I’ll talk to you again soon. Call me if you need me.”

“I will. Talk to you later, pops.” Stiles hands up the phone and flips it around in his hands. 

“What’s Eichen House?” Stiles jumps and drops his phone onto the concrete floor.

“What the hell? Were you eavesdropping?” Stiles turns to his neighbor to see Derek sitting on one of the chairs on his furnished balcony, legs propped up on a table with a laptop resting on his thighs.

“No. I was out here when you came out and I certainly wasn’t going to go inside just so you could have some privacy.”

“Well you could have said something.” 

“And disrupt your phone call with your dad? I’m not that much of a dick. Besides, I’m just trying to get some work done.”

“What kind of work?”

“I’m emailing one of my kids’ parents. He’s very advanced for his age, I want his parents to know about a program at the school for gifted kids.”  
“I see. Well, can’t you work from inside?”

“Can’t you?”

“I didn’t have any service inside.”

“Yeah, the service in this building sucks. And I live with my sister so when she gets on my nerves, I come out here to be alone.”

“Sorry for ruining that for you.”

“You didn’t ruin anything. It’s not like you’re doing anything wrong, you’re on your own balcony.” Stiles hums in agreement and leans his elbows on the railing of his balcony.

“So where do you work?”

“Poe’s Diner.”

“I’ve been there before. My friends and I get dinner there every so often.”

“You have friends?” The look Derek gives Stiles is one of annoyance and yes, this one is definitely deserved. “Sorry, I just meant… It seems like you enjoy being alone.”

“I do. But I also enjoy spending time with my friends. Do you have any friends?”

“Not around here. My best friend is going to school at U.C. Davis.”

“Good school. Are you a student?”

“Yeah, at the community college a few miles away. I don’t know what to do with my life, so....”

“There’s nothing wrong with that. I’ve known my whole life that I wanted to teach, but my sister still hasn’t figured it out and she’s thirty. And she’s one of the best people I know.”

The side of Stiles’s mouth quirks up in a smile. After a while, he tells Derek goodnight and heads inside.


	2. Chapter 2

When Stiles sees Derek at Poe’s late one Friday night, he’s taken aback. Even more when he happens to sit in Stiles’s section, meaning he’s going to have to wait on him. There are three other people with Derek, all of which are very attractive. There’s a blonde woman with a leather jacket and dark eyeliner who looks like she could murder Stiles just by winking at him. Next to her is a buff black man who isn’t dressed nearly as bold as blond with whom he is holding hands. The other person Stiles doesn’t recognize is a tall guy with curly hair and a fucking scarf. If he wasn’t so attractive, Stiles would think of an insult about his choice of accessory. 

“Stiles, if you plan on taking their orders, you have to actually walk over there,” Amber, Stiles’s manager says, proving that his strategy of staring from afar is ineffective. 

“Yeah, thanks.” He rolls his eyes, ignoring the gentle nudge Amber gives him. Stiles trudges over to the table of Gods and Goddess reluctantly. 

“Welcome to Poe’s, can I get you started with some drinks?” he recites. 

“Stiles?”

“Oh, hey Derek.” Quite honestly, Stiles wasn’t expecting Derek to acknowledge that they know each other. In fact, he was kind of counting on it. It’s one thing to talk to the guy late at night after the sun has gone down in the privacy of their separate balconies and a whole other thing to see him in the light of the restaurant surrounded by other people. He seems much more real. And much more attractive. 

“I guess I should have figured I’d run into you here sometime,” Derek says, continuing to surprise Stiles by carrying on with the conversation. There’s nothing impressive about staying up chatting with your dorky nineteen year old when you’re a sexy twenty-something with other sexy twenty-something friends. 

“Yeah, I guess so,” Stiles agrees, doing his best to ignore the scrutinizing looks Derek’s friends are giving him.

“Oh, these are my friends, Erica, Boyd, and Isaac,” Derek says, pointing to each person respectively. “This is Stiles, mine and Laura’s new neighbor.” Laura is probably Derek’s sister. 

“Nice to meet you, Stiles,” Erica--the blonde--says. “Derek’s mentioned you.”

“Yeah? Well, you know,” he says more than awkwardly. It’s like he doesn’t know how to behave like a person. “So. Drinks?”

\---

“I’m sorry if my friends made you uncomfortable tonight,” Derek says later that night. Stiles had been sitting on his balcony since he got off work with a bowl of ice cream and his laptop, working on some homework for class. 

“They didn’t,” Stiles says, setting his laptop and empty ice cream bowl on the concrete floor. He stands up and walks to the side of the balcony closest to Derek, leaning his elbows on the railing so they can talk. “Well, they did, but it’s my own fault. Everyone makes me uncomfortable.”

“I don’t make you uncomfortable.”

Stiles snorts. “You make me incredibly uncomfortable,” he admits, looking down at the gap between his and Derek’s balconies. “You just don’t notice because uncomfortable is my default. If I was comfortable, well, that’d be something.”

“Why do I make you uncomfortable?”

“I don’t know. It’s just kind of a general state for me. Nothing personal. I will admit, though, that out of all the men I’ve met on balconies, you make me the least uncomfortable.”

“I’m flattered,” Derek says. “So are you taking any exciting classes?”

 

“Not really. Mostly just gen-eds, you know how it is. Though I am taking an art class. The only time I took an art class before this was freshman year of high school when I wanted to impress a girl. I worked so hard on some pretentious masterpiece, but she turned me down anyways.”

“Ouch.”

“I’m over it. She’s one of my best friends now, and dating a guy that works for my dad. So, you know, I guess it worked out.”

“I had a hopeless crush when I was in high school too,” Derek says. 

“Yeah? What was she like?”

There’s a pause and then Derek is sucking in a breath and opening the door to his apartment. “I should get to bed. I’m taking the kids on a field trip to a farm outside the city in the morning, I need all the energy I can get.” Stiles nods, trying to understand. It isn’t fair for him to expect people he’s barely even friends with to share things with him, even when he tends to give his life story to people on accident. 

 

Xxx

“Mr. Stilinski, a unique take on the assignment. You’re a talented photographer.”

“Thank you.” Stiles ducks his head and smiles. His teacher tends to praise Stiles more than any other student, which is something that has never happened to him before. Most of his high school teachers refused to accept that his curiosity and tendency to fidget and talk, a lot, wasn’t entirely his fault. They liked to yell at him. This one doesn’t yell. 

“Keep building up your portfolios. That’s it for today. I’ll see you all next week.”

On his way home, Stiles picks up Chinese takeout from a sketchy place on the corner of his block. He used to like cooking healthy meals for himself and his dad, but he doesn’t have the money to do so anymore. Or the energy. At least Chinese food is tasty.

Stiles rushes to the elevator door as it’s about to close and sticks his foot in just in time for it to open back up. He walks inside and sees that the other person in the elevator, a young woman with long dark hair, pushed the same floor he’s going to. 

“Are you Stiles?” the girl asks as soon as they start moving. 

“Yes?”

“Oh cool. I’m Laura Hale, your neighbor. You’ve been talking to my brother.”

“Oh,” Stiles says, realization dawning on him. “Right, he’s mentioned you. I’d shake your hand, but I don’t want to drop my chicken fried rice.”

Laura laughs. “Understandable.” The elevator dings then and the doors open on their floor. Laura and Stiles walk in silence in the direction of their homes and part ways with a quick goodbye. 

Later that night, Stiles walks outside to FaceTime Scott. He checks to make sure Derek isn’t on his balcony first, just to avoid any accidental snooping. When he doesn’t see the other man, he opens up his contact list on his phone and calls his friend. 

“Stiles, buddy, hey,” Scott says. Stiles can tell he’s sitting at the desk in his dorm that Stiles had helped him move into before he left for Seattle. 

“Hey, Scott.”

“What’s been going on?”

“Very little, actually,” Stiles says. “You?”

“I’m actually playing in a lacrosse club on campus. It’s not the school team, just a bunch of us who get together to play every few days. I’m actually kind of good compared to some of these guys.”

“Awesome, I’m happy for you man.”

“How’s work? And your classes?”

“Work is interesting. I like my coworkers. And my classes are extremely slow paced and boring. I feel like I should be the one teaching in most of them.”

“You have any friends?”

“Not really. Just some people I talk to every once in a while.” Stiles’s mind hops to Derek. “It’s only been a couple of weeks, though.”

“You’ve got time,” Scott adds. “Are you going home for Thanksgiving?”

“Scott.”

“What?”

“It’s barely October yet.”

“You usually like to plan ahead.”

“I don’t know. I guess I have to see how I feel then. Don’t want to go back before I’m ready.” Scott nods his head. They talk for a while more before Scott breaks away, saying he has to study or else he will fail some quiz he has to take the next day. Stiles hangs out on the balcony for a few more minutes to see if Derek plans on joining him, but there’s no sign of him and Stiles decides to head inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> follow me on the Tumblr @Holy-Hale ;)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> content warning at the end of the chapter :)

“It’s late,” Derek says when Stiles walks outside a few minutes after midnight.

“I know it is. Don’t you have work in the morning? Go to sleep.”

“I’m not tired. Actually, I was sort of hoping you wouldn’t be tired either, so you could keep me company.”

Stiles ignores the way his stomach flares up at the sound of that. “Well, you’re in luck. I don’t sleep much.” Derek doesn’t ask what he means by that. 

“So you met my sister?”

“That I did. She was nice.”

“Spoken like a true only child,” Derek scoffs.

“You caught me; I have no siblings.” Derek smiles. “So. Have you lived anywhere other than Seattle?”

“I grew up in New York.”

“City?”

“Yeah.”

“I lived in Beacon Hills before I moved here. It’s in California.”

“So why’d you choose Seattle?”

“My mom liked it here. We used to take trips up here to see plays or museums when I was little.”

“Sounds nice.”

“It was.”

“Hey Stiles?”

“Yeah?”

“The other night, you asked me what that girl I had a crush on in high school was like.”

“I remember.”

“Well her name was Kate. She was twenty-five when I was fifteen. She… She hurt me.”

“Like--”

“Yeah, like that.”

“Shit,” Stiles says. “Where is she now?”

“Mexico.”

“I’m sorry, Derek.”

“So where is the girl you had a crush on? Didn’t you say she’s one of your best friends now?”

“Yeah, she’s at MIT.”

“Do you still like her?”

“Nah. You know how there are straight people who fall in love with people of the same gender? And if it weren’t for that one person, they probably wouldn’t be in a gay relationship?” Derek nods. “Well I think that’s how it is for me, except reversed. And the fact that I was never actually in a relationship with Lydia.”

“So you’re--”

“Very gay,” Stiles says. He watches Derek closely, hoping he won’t see any sort of repulsion from the other man. 

“Oh.”

“Is that okay?”

“Yeah, Stiles, that’s okay.”

They don’t talk about anything so personal again that night. Stiles tells Derek about his art class, how the teacher likes him and keeps asking him to put one of his sets into one of the campus art shows. Derek tells Stiles about a student of his that is always having too much fun to ask to go to the bathroom when she needs to and ends up wetting herself. Stiles thinks that’s adorable and after a while, Derek agrees. 

Xxx

Stiles wakes up at 1 am on a Saturday morning, screaming so hard his throat starts to burn. He doesn't even remember the dream, but this feeling he has, like he's out of control, hurts. It hurts so bad that he starts to panic and Stiles knows where this is going, so he stands up and starts pacing, trying his hardest to calm his breathing. His therapist has given him multiple techniques for moments like these, and he figures now may as well be the best time to test them out. So he starts counting his breaths. Odd numbers when he inhales, and even numbers when he exhales. 

Then he starts feeling dizzy, and before he knows what he’s doing, he’s pulling on a t-shirt, slipping on his slides, and shuffling out of his apartment. He’s knocking on Derek’s door by the time he realizes this is a bad idea--they barely know each other. 

Still, when the door swings open revealing Derek’s worried face, Stiles can’t help but feel safer. Derek is wearing a pair of black and red flannel pants and no shirt, which Stiles might take the time to admire once he’s back home and the image is burned into his brain. Right now, thought, he feels absolutely idiotic. 

“I-- s-sorry,” he mumbles. “I had this dream, and I’m not used to being alone, and--” he doesn’t get to finish, however, because Derek is pulling him into his apartment and shutting the door behind him. “I shouldn’t have--”

“Stiles,” Derek says, guiding him to the couch in the living room, parallel to Stiles’s own living room. “What happened?”

“I uh… I have this thing, with sleep. Like, I takes meds for it and everything. Just, sometimes, I get these nightmares and… I don’t know, my doctor tells me that I struggle with telling the difference between dreaming and reality. Which doesn’t really pair well… with the nightmares and all.”

“Do you want to go back to sleep?” Derek asks. Stiles sinks into the couch and shakes his head. He’s shaking like he’s doing something he shouldn’t. “Okay. We can watch a movie. What’s your favorite batman movie?”

“Derek, you don’t have to-- I should probably go, anyways.”

“No. You’re going to stay here and we’re going to watch Batman.”

“But--”

“Stiles.”

“The Dark Knight Rises.” Derek smirks and turns the TV on, going to his digital library and choosing The Dark Knight Rises. After he presses play and the advertisements start to play, he goes into the kitchen and returns with two glasses of water. Stiles accepts his graciously

Neither of them say anything for the rest of the night. Derek pulls a blanket out of a chest being used as a coffee table and drapes it over the two of them, and soon enough, Stiles finds himself drifting off. 

Xxx

Stiles wakes to bright sunlight shining in through the windows. He freaks out briefly, not recognizing where he is, before he remembers last night. He stirs and realizes that his head is in Derek’s lap, a place that it is not supposed to be. 

Stiles flails, causing himself to fall off the couch and Derek to jerk awake. 

“Stiles? Are you alright?”

“Mmph,” Stiles says, pushing himself up. 

“You two sleep well?” At that, both Stiles and Derek turn their heads in the direction of the voice. Laura stands at the foot of the couch, arms crossed and a smirk on her face. 

“”What? Oh, yeah. Fine. What time is it?” Derek wipes his eyes and sits up, leaning his elbows on his knees.

“Almost 8:30” That surprises Stiles. He’s not used to sleeping past seven. “So what do you say the three of us go to that greasy diner around the corner and grab some breakfast? I’ll pay.”

“Laur, it’s okay.”

“No, we’re all going. You have anywhere to be, Stiles?”

“Um. No?”

“Good. Go home and get ready, meet us down in the lobby in ten minutes.”

Stiles does as he’s told, afraid that if he doesn’t, he’ll have to face the wrath of Laura which, according to Derek, is not something one wants to experience. 

He brushes his teeth in silence, trying not to think about falling asleep on Derek or the fact that he went over there crying in the first place. At least Derek didn’t send him home. Though, that may have been better, since Stiles would have just accepted that he was out of line and wallowed in self pity the rest of the night. He throws on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt, since it’s starting to get chilly outside. 

When he’s dressed, he takes the elevator downstairs to see Laura and Derek waiting for him. Derek is dressed in a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, similar to what he was wearing when Stiles first met him. He has his glasses on, which make him look extra soft. Stiles didn’t think soft would be a word he could every use to describe Derek. 

“Good, you’re ready,” Laura says. She’s dressed with a full face of makeup, and Stiles wonders if she looked like that before he left their apartment or if she can just get ready that fast. “Have you been to the 24/7 Diner yet, Stiles?”

“I have not.”

“Good. It could rot your heart if you ate there more than once a month.” Stiles smiles at that. 

They’re quiet the rest of the walk to the diner and luckily, they get seated quick once inside. It starts to rain when they take their seats and Stiles smiles at the sound of raindrops hitting the windows. 

An older woman comes to their table and takes their drink orders. Stiles asks for a water, because his therapist says that it’s best not to have coffee when he’s experiencing parasomnia just. He doesn’t know if it’ll be back tonight, but he doesn’t want to take any chances. Derek orders a black coffee and Laura orders tea. 

“So Stiles, what are your Halloween plans?”

“I’m working.”

“Oh, that sucks.”

“I don’t mind. I like my coworkers and if I wasn’t working, I’d probably just stay home moping about not being with my friends.”

“Well, at least you have something to do then. Derek is working at a Halloween party for the kindergartners.”

“That sounds fun,” Stiles says. 

“They’re going to eat candy and watch ‘It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!.’ It will be a blast.” Stiles smiles at Derek over the tip of his water glass. 

Stiles ends up ordering an omelet and eats it pretty quickly. He also tries to pay for his own food, which is apparently crazy, because Laura rips the check from his hands and walks up to the register to pay, leaving Stiles alone with Derek. 

“I’m sorry about last night,” Stiles says. A sleepy Derek perks up at that. 

“Hey, there’s nothing to be sorry about.”

“I came over to your apartment in the middle of the night, forced you to watch Batman with me, and then fell asleep on you.”

“The Batman part was my idea, Stiles. And I don’t mind the other two. We’re friends. It’s what we do.”

Stiles shrugs, not really believing that Derek didn’t mind but not willing to argue. “Okay.”

“Alright,” Laura says when she returns, “let’s head out.”

They run back to their building, trying not to get too wet from the rain. Stiles doesn’t mind it. It doesn’t rain a whole lot in Beacon Hills. 

When they get up to their doors, Stiles thanks Laura for breakfast and says goodbye to Derek before going into his own apartment. 

The feeling he has in the pit of his stomach when Derek is out of sight tells him all he needs to know: this guy is going to hurt him, and he won’t even realize it. 

He doesn’t go out on the balcony that night, or for the next few nights. He tells himself it’s because of the rain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stiles talks about his sleep disorder a little bit and a minor anxiety attack.   
> Derek mentions Kate and how he was underage when they were together.


	4. Chapter 4

The next time Stiles sees Derek, it’s at Poe’s. Derek is having dinner with a pretty woman who has a nice laugh. She seems exactly like the type of person Derek should be with. All sweet smiles and soft-spoken words. A woman. 

Luckily, they’re seating out of Stiles’s section, so he doesn’t have to serve them. That doesn’t stop him, however, from looking over at the two every time he hears Derek’s laugh. He catches Derek’s eye once on accident, nods at him across the room, and from then on he avoids so much as a glance in their direction. 

“You seem awfully depressed for someone who doesn’t have to work over the holiday,” Amber tells him. Stiles glares at her. 

“You’re one to talk, miss ‘my boyfriend broke up with me so now I have to make everyone else feel the same pain I do.’” Stiles remembers very clearly the week after Amber and her boyfriend ended things. She was miserable and, as manager, made everyone else miserable on principle.

“So this is about a boy?” She asks. How she knows Stiles is interested in guys, he’s afraid to ask.

“No.”

“Stiles, are you seeing someone?” She asks in a voice like he’s a twelve-year-old who just got his first date. 

“Absolutely not. In fact, I’m doing the complete opposite.”

“Do you like someone?”

“If I did, Amber, there’s no way in hell I’d tell you.” Amber crosses her arms and pouts, so Stiles takes it as an opportunity to walk away and check on the tables he’s been serving. 

Xxx

When Stiles gets off work that night, he figures he’s safe to go out on the balcony. He doesn’t anticipate that Derek would already be out here, reading on an e-reader like the nerd he is, with his glasses on and everything. By the time Stiles notices Derek, the man has already seen him and it would be awkward to retreat at this point. 

“You had a date tonight,” Stiles points out, as if Derek wasn’t totally aware of that. 

“I did.”

“And you guys went to Poe’s?”

“It wasn’t our first date so I didn’t need to impress her. Besides, we both like the food there.”

“Oh. Well how’d it go?”

“We went back to her apartment and I learned that Jennifer and I have very different priorities. So I left.”

“Different priorities?”

“She was a creep, Stiles.” The younger man frowns at that. It seems like Derek doesn’t have the best track record when it comes to relationships. 

“I’m sorry,” he says though frankly, it’s a bit of a relief, even though Stiles is just falling deeper down the rabbit hole.

“I’m not. At least I figured it out before I got attached this time, right?”

“That’s one way to look at it.”

“It’s how I have to look at these things if I don’t want to go crazy,” Derek says. Then he pauses, like he’s about to say something. He doesn’t so Stiles starts to speak, but Derek interrupts. “Hey Stiles?”

“Yeah?”

“You never talk about your own relationships. Do you date?”

“Not really. Last serious relationship I had ended about half way through my senior year with a girl named Malia. That was before I figured out the whole gay thing. And I don’t really do boyfriends now. I mean, sure, there are guys that I… well, fool around with occasionally, but no, I don’t date.”

“Do you want to?”

“What?”

“I mean, do you wish you had a boyfriend?”

“Oh. I guess I do sometimes. It’d be nice to have someone. But I also don’t think I’d make a very good boyfriend. I’m kind of a dick, if you haven’t picked up on that yet.”

“I am too.”

“I think you’re alright,” Derek says. Stiles smiles at him.

“I’d better get inside. I have class tomorrow.”

Xxx 

The next time Stiles walks out on the balcony it’s cold, though that’s not surprising seeing as it’s the week before Thanksgiving. Seattle winter is colder than Southern California winter. 

Maybe a moment or two after he steps outside, he hears his neighboring glass door open. “You know, I wonder why I never see anyone else out here,” Stiles says. He leans on the railing closest to Derek so he can see him directly. Derek does the same and then they’re a mere couple of feet apart.

“Maybe because we only ever come out here in the middle of the night,” Derek says pointedly.

“I guess that’s possible.”

“I haven’t seen you out here for a few nights.”

“I’ve been busy. I’ve been trying to get my place ready for Thanksgiving,” Stiles lies. “I didn’t want to go back to Beacon Hills so my dad decided to come up here.” Somewhere deep inside, Stiles knows he’s been avoiding Derek. 

“Oh. You looking forward to seeing him?”

“Oh yeah,” Stiles smiles. “I mean, we’re all we have for family, you know? And I try to talk to him on the phone as often as possible but he’s busy with work and I’m busy with school, so it’ll be nice to see him for real.”

“Good. You sound excited.”

“What about you and Laura?

“Our little sister Cora is visiting. She’s going to college on the east coast, so we don’t see her often. We’re actually picking her up from the airport tomorrow.”

“Cool,” Stiles says. He desperately wants to ask why Derek isn’t spending the holiday with his parents, but he doesn’t. He knows Derek would tell him if he thought it was necessary. 

“She’s around you age, I think.”

“Nineteen?”

“Yep.”

“How old are you?”

“Twenty-four.”

“You seem older,” Stiles tells him. 

“A lot of people say that. Laura thinks it’s because of my ‘broody face’ but I don’t get it.” 

“It’s definitely the broody face.”

Derek rolls his eyes but the corners of his lips turn upward. “So when’s your dad coming in?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is shorter than usual but I couldn't fit in with last chapter or the next chapter. sorry folks.


	5. Chapter 5

“Holy God.”

“Stiles! Put it out!”

“With what, Dad?”

“I don’t know, try something!” Stiles’s dad tries to throw a glass of water over the flame, but before he has the chance, his son is slapping the cup out of his hands. It shatters on the ground.

“You can’t pour water on a grease fire!”

“Well then what do we do?” The sheriff yells over Stiles’s freaking out. 

“Fire extinguisher!” Stiles opens up the cabinet underneath the sink and grabs the fire extinguisher. He’s familiar with the device, having started many a fire back in his high school days, so quickly pulls the lever. Soon enough, a white film is covering the turkey in Stiles’s oven. 

“So no turkey?” his dad says. 

“Guess not.”

There’s a knock at the door and Stiles eyes it suspiciously. He isn’t expecting anyone. His dad shakes his head, exasperated, and walks over to the door before Stiles has a chance to do it himself. 

“Wait,” he says, hurrying over and swinging the door open. Derek stands there, eyebrows furrowed, looking worried. 

“I heard screaming,” he says. Stiles sighs.

“We, uh, had a mishap with the turkey. Turns out, not using the oven for a few months and then trying to spring a huge bird on it all of a sudden can cause some issues.”

“What happened?” Stiles moves to the side to let Derek in and motions to the black and white mess sitting inside the oven. “Well that’s--”

“I know.”

“We’ve still got pie,” John chimes. Stiles physically face palms. “I’m John, Stiles’s dad.” He sticks his hand out for Derek to shake.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Derek, I live next door.” Stiles doesn’t miss the sideways glance his dad gives him. He knows how much he’s mentioned his hot neighbor over the phone to everyone, including Scott, Lydia, his own father. Luckily, the sheriff doesn’t say anything embarrassing. 

“Thanks for checking on us,” Stiles says. 

“Sure.” Derek nods at him and then, uncertainty lacing his feature, continues to speak. “You know, there’s only three of us next door. My sisters wouldn’t mind some company.”

“Oh, Derek, no, that’s too much. Cora just got home and this is a family holiday.”

“Please? As long as you bring your pies, we’d be happy to have the two of you.” Stiles shakes his head yet somehow finds himself standing next to his father in Derek’s entryway a few minutes later. Laura looks thrilled to see him and the other person inside the apartment, Cora, Stiles assumes, looks skeptical. 

“Stiles and his dad are going to join us,” Derek says. “They brought pie.”

Laura snatches the pie from Stiles’s hands. His dad helps with the mashed potatoes and Derek has Stiles help him set the table. 

“Are you sure you don’t mind us being here?” Stiles asks. 

“If I minded, I wouldn’t have invited you over. And Laura and Cora are fine with it, trust me.”

“I just feel bad. Today is supposed to be about family.”

“And friends,” Derek adds. 

“And the massacre of thousands of Native Americans by our white ancestors.”

“Exactly. You think you’re imposing? Christopher Columbus was infinitely worse.” 

“Alright, you sold me.” Stiles smiles bashfully and continues helping Derek place silverware. 

A few hours later, Stiles is helping Laura wash some dishes while Derek and John discuss politics in the living room. Luckily, they have similar views. If they hadn’t, things could have gotten very bad very quick. Stiles has never been very into politics himself so he never brought up the topic with Derek but he learns that the man is very passionate. 

“They’re lucky uncle Peter isn’t here,” Laura says, handing Stiles a bowl to dry. “He and Derek get into very heated debates whenever he’s around. I personally think Derek is too much of an intellectual to be teaching kindergarten, but he claims to love the children more than anything.”

“I didn’t know he was so smart. I didn’t think he was stupid, but--”

“He’s shy about all the things he should be confident about. Like his looks. He’s definitely the best looking out of the siblings, wouldn’t you agree?”

“I--uh--”

“It’s okay, Stiles. I know how you feel about my brother.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I see the way you look at him. I see the way you blush around him. I’m intuitive about these kinds of things.”

Stiles turns to look and make sure Derek isn’t around. He’s still in the living room with Stiles’s dad, and they’re deep into their conversation, so Stiles isn’t too worried. He is, however, concerned that Laura knows in the first place. “You wouldn’t tell him, would you?”

“Oh, please, what to you take me for? I’m not a horrible person, Stiles.”

“I know you’re not. It’s just, well, I’m me, and Derek is Derek. If he found out--”

“I think you’d be pleasantly surprised with his reaction if he were to find out.” Stiles frowns at her. 

“What does that mean?” 

Laura doesn’t answer him, just smiles and turns back to the dishes. 

\---

Stiles’s dad is sleeping soundly on the couch Thanksgiving night when Stiles heads out to the balcony. Fortunately for him, Derek is already out there.

“You smoke?” Stiles asks. Derek startles and drops his cigarette on the ground. He sighs and moves to stomp it out.

“No. I hate the smell.”

“Then why--”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Derek snaps, and Stiles frowns. Because that’s not how Derek is supposed to behave with him. Sure, he’s grumpy and can roll his eyes like no other, but he’s not mean. 

“Right. Okay. You don’t have to.” There’s a pause and Stiles starts to shiver. “How are you not hypothermic? That sweater cannot be keeping you warm.”

Derek huffs, like he wanted a quiet night but knows better than to hope for that with Stiles as a neighbor. “I’m from New York, Stiles. Our winters are at least twenty degrees colder.”

“Well, props to you, then. I don’t think I can handle it.”

“My family and I lived in a big house right outside of the city,” Derek says. 

“Oh.”

“You asked me if I lived in the city and I said yes, but really, we had this big plot of land in the countryside. I was afraid you’d keep asking questions if I said no, so I lied.”

“What didn’t you want to tell me?” Stiles faces Derek and leans close. If he wanted, he could stretch out and just barely touch his neighbor. 

“Our house caught on fire one night. I wasn’t home, and neither was Laura. I don’t even remember what I was doing, at this point, but it probably wasn’t important. My parents died, along with my Uncle Peter’s wife. He made it out, and got Cora out, but nobody else made it.”

Stiles watches Derek, who’s picking at his nail beds. “How long ago?”

“Seven years today.”

Stiles nods. That explains the cigarette. “My mom died. When I was eight. I know it’s not the same, but. I get it. Anniversaries are fucking hard.”

Derek hums in agreement. “I don’t mean to use you as my therapist, Stiles.”

“I don’t mind. For as much as you’ve been helping me, it’s the least I could do.”

“Helping you?”

“Yeah. I feel a lot less lonely with you around. I don’t know, it’s weird.”

“No, it’s okay. I feel the same way.” Stiles smiles, feeling blood rush to his cheeks. 

\---

“You’re doing pretty okay, aren’t you, kid?”

“Yeah, dad.”

“Sleeping okay?”

“Not always.” 

“What do you mean?”

“I get nightmares. But it’s okay. I--Derek is helpful. He doesn’t mind staying up with me every once in a while.”

There’s a distant smile on his dad’s face, one that Stiles can’t figure out, so he lets it drop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here's the thing: i have not proofread this thing at all. If you guys follow me, you're well aware that I have a tendency to procrastinate. I'm leaving on another mission trip in two days where I will have very limited technology and won't be able to update for a while so I'm kind of rushing. Sorry guys. 
> 
> another thing: i'm sorry that this is about thanksgiving in the middle of July. I know, I'm horrible.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning for more descriptions of what Stiles's issues with his mental health are.

The day Stiles’s dad leaves, he feels exceptionally lonely. So lonely, in fact, that when he sees Derek on the balcony, he invites the man over to watch a movie. Derek accepts the offer and is knocking on Stiles’s door within the minute. After a few seconds of hesitation, Stiles opens it. 

He lets Derek in, happy to see him, despite feeling uncomfortable. 

“So what movie do you want to watch?” When Derek doesn’t answer, Stiles turns and sees him looking at the bulletin board next to the door, where Stiles has hung multiple pictures he’s taken. 

“Are these yours?”

“They are.”

“You’re really good, Stiles.”

Stiles coughs. “Thanks.”

“Seriously. You said you had a hobby of taking pictures, but this is talent.”

“Alright, Derek, that’s enough,” Stiles says awkwardly. 

“Are these your friends?” he asks. Stiles looks at the picture he’s pointing to, the only one Stiles didn’t take. It’s one of him, Scott, Lydia, and Malia that someone took for the yearbook. Stiles liked it so much, he tracked the girl down and figured out how to print himself a copy. 

“Yeah,” Stiles says, putting his finger up to point. “That’s Malia, that’s Lydia, and that’s Scott. And that’s me in the middle. Obviously.”

“You guys look happy.”

“We were. That was senior year. I kind of had a rough time after that picture was taken,” Stiles says. 

“What do you mean?”

Stiles walks back to the couch and Derek follows, sitting on the end opposite him. “You know one of those first nights when I was talking to my dad on the phone and you were outside? And you asked what Eichen House is?” Derek nods. “It’s a mental institution. I didn’t--well, I almost did--I have all these sleep disorders, on top of like a crippling anxiety, and I was really paranoid. I mean, scared of everyone, even my friends. When it got to the point where I hadn’t gotten more than two hours of sleep a night for over a week my dad and I decided I needed some… help.”

“Oh, Stiles.”

“I’m feeling better now. I just went so long without telling anyone anything, and now I’m on medication and I skype my therapist twice a month.”

“So that night you came over to my apartment?”

“I had woken up from a night terror. I was screaming, because screaming is the only way I can wake myself up from those, and when that used to happen I’d crawl into bed with my dad. I know it’s weird, teenagers aren’t supposed to still be crawling into their dad’s bed when they have a bad dream--”

“It’s not weird.”

“I just hadn’t had one of these episodes in so long, and never when I was alone, so… You were the only thing I could think of to calm me down that wasn’t going to hurt me.”

“Stiles, it’s okay. You don’t have to explain yourself to me. We’re friends. I want to be able to help you out if you need it. I know you would do the same for me.”

“I would,” Stiles says truthfully. “So. Movie?” 

“Would you hate me if I told you I’ve never seen Star Wars?”

Stiles looks at him. “You. You haven’t…”

“I’ve been meaning to—“

“I honestly can’t even look at you. You’re as bad as Scott, you know that?” 

Derek just laughs. “Well let’s watch it then!”

“Uh, yeah, obviously,” Stiles says. 

They make it through the first movie of the original trilogy and Stiles gleefully answers every one of Derek’s questions. By the time the screen dims with the credits, Stiles is tired and he can tell Derek is too.

“Do you have things to do tomorrow?” 

“No. Well, I have some grading to do, but it’s for kindergartners which means it’ll be easy. They’ve been working on their penmanship.” 

“I still think it’s weird that you teach kindergartners,” Stiles says. Derek huffs a laugh. 

“I believe the reason you gave me for that is that I’m ‘handsome.’”

“Yes. Well, no. I mean, it’s not like kindergarten teachers can’t be physically attractive, but when I met you, you seemed kinda angry at the world and broody and like little children would be terrified of you.” 

“My kids love me.”

“And then you go and call them ‘your kids’ like that and I realize that you’re just a big softie is all.” Stiles can’t help but laugh at Derek’s faux frown. He gets points for trying, though. 

“So now you’ve decided that, what, I am attractive but not an axe murderer?” 

“Woah, buddy, I don’t know where you came up with the axe murderer part.” 

“Well you don’t fit the physical stereotype for community college student slash waiter.”

“Oh yeah? What does it look like I should be doing?”

“Working in a coffee shop. a barista, but also the manager of the place. And I don’t know, being underestimated by teachers at an Ivy League school or something like that.”

“Yeah? Well not Ivy League, but MIT.”

“MIT?” 

“I was going to go with Lydia. Got accepted on a scholarship and everything. But, well, the brief psychotic episode, which is what my psychologist called it, kind of pushed everything back.”

“You’re really smart then.”

“I hear the same about you.”

“Laura?”

“She says you’re shy about the things you should be confident about.”

“She likes to dote on me. I think she’s just trying to make it seem like the Hales are the master race or something. Anyways, why are going to community college now?”

“I guess I just don’t know what I want to do. I was going into bioengineering which I don’t think interests me anymore. I don’t know if it’s because Lydia was doing the same or if I did want that at one point and it just changed.”

“I think you should be a photographer.” Stiles laughs. “No, I’m serious. You take good pictures and you love doing it, so, why not?”

“Derek, how reliable exactly do you think it would be to make a living off of being a start up photographer?”

“So work somewhere else while practicing and getting better.” 

“Derek.” 

“Stiles.”

“I just don’t think I can do it.”

Derek’s face softens. He shifts in position so that his leg is folded up under him and he’s facing Stiles.

“I don’t want to pressure you to pursue something you don’t want. But I think you’re talented. You could be successful if you wanted.”

Stiles grins and tucks his chin to his chest. “You’re sweet, Derek.”

“I thought I was broody.”

“That too. You’re confusing me a bit, you know?” Stiles stands up and picks up the popcorn bowl they’d long since emptied. Derek follows him into the kitchen. 

“And why’s that?”

“I think you’ve figured it out by now.” 

Derek looks away. “No, Stiles, tell me,” he says quietly. 

Stiles sighs. He knows he hasn’t been obvious about his feelings toward Derek, but the other man is perceptive and knows things. And Stiles doesn’t want to ruin the only real friendship he has in the city. 

“Derek.”

“Stiles.”

“I’m going to mess things up.” He turns and leans his back against his counter, looking down at his feet. Derek the moves to lean next to him, mimicking Stiles’s position. 

“I don’t think that could happen.”

“How do you know that?”

“Just tell me.”

“Have you ever fallen for someone who doesn’t swing your way?”

“No. But, Stiles, maybe you should just say what’s on your chest.”

“Yeah, I know, get it over with, rip the bandaid off—“

“No, Stiles, look at me.” Derek stands in front of Stiles, close enough that Stiles can smell his cologne. Stiles ducks his head. “Hey, Stiles, whatever it is you’re feeling… I feel it too, okay?” He lifts his head at that, finally chancing a look into Derek’s eyes.

“What?”

“I’m just as confused as you are.”

“But you’re not even—are you?”

“Stiles, I have never told you my sexuality. I don’t know why you assume I’m straight.”

“But—I mean—you only ever talk about women you’ve been with.”

“That’s because I’ve never been with anyone other than a woman. You knew you were gay before you got with a guy, didn’t you?”

“I guess.”

“I don’t know what I am, Stiles, but… I know I’m into you.”

“But you’re--”

“Why are you trying to convince me not to like you?”

“Because I don’t think you know what it is you’d be getting yourself into.”

“And what would that be?”

“Well for one, I’m kind of an asshole.”

“I am too.”

“And my friends are kind of intense, and if they ever found out about you, they wouldn’t leave you alone.”

“I can handle that.”

“Not to mention my dad, who owns a gun and is surprisingly protective over me.”

“Stiles.”

“And then there’s the whole nightmare thing. And on top of that, you never know if or when I’ll have another psychotic episode. I mean, Derek, you don’t want to deal with that.” Stiles cringes. He doesn’t technically remember everything that went down when he hallucinating, which is what his doctor says happened. To him it feels like a dream, but apparently he’d been awake the entire time. But Stiles knows how it affected his dad and friends and how he can’t bear to make someone else suffer through that. 

“Hey, listen to me,” Derek says, bringing his right hand up to cup the side of Stiles’s face. “We can do this however you want. If you want to stay friends, I can do that. If you want to start things slow, I can do that.”

“You’re really not joking, are you?”

“Joking?”

“It’s just, the last time I really liked someone, it was Lydia and she turned me down. I just didn’t think you’d ever--I mean, that’s why I never said anything.”

“Well I’m not joking.”

“Oh. Good.” He takes a moment to get his thoughts together “I don’t think I can… I mean, not right now,” Stiles says. He’s disappointed in himself. He just learned that Derek, the man he’s been pining over for months, potentially likes him and he’s going to make both Derek and himself wait to start anything. What if Derek doesn’t want to wait?

“That’s okay,” Derek says. He brings his hand back up to the side of Stiles’s face and swipes his thumb across Stiles’s cheekbone. “I’m going to go home now.”

“Yeah, right. Okay. Uh, I’ll see you later then.”

“Okay.” Derek smiles softly and begins to turn around but before he can walk away, Stiles yanks his arm back so that Derek is forced to turn and look at him. Stiles finds himself less than an inch away from Derek’s face, the other man’s warm breath on Stiles’s nose. 

“Can I kiss you?” whispers Stiles. 

“Please.”

Stiles presses his lips to Derek’s, softly, and tries to keep himself from doing anything more. He knows that there’s a difference between some random guy he finds at a party and a guy he’s really falling for.

Derek kisses Stiles back, cups at the back of his head to hold them together. Stiles isn’t sure how long it’s been but when Derek pulls away it feels like both an eternity and no time at all. Stiles feels like he’s in seventh grade, having just kissed his crush completely close-mouthed with stationary hands. He doesn’t remember the last time he didn’t expect more. 

“Goodnight, Stiles,” Derek says. Stiles grins and peck’s Derek’s cheek, this time letting the man show himself out. He locks the door once Derek leaves and leans against it, sighing, embarrassed by the goofy grin tugging at his lips. 

 

End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm currently in the airport, preparing to leave the country, and thought I might as well give y'all this last chapter since I won't be back in the states for a week and a half :)
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it!
> 
> My tumblr is @holy-hale
> 
> Bye guys :)

**Author's Note:**

> Stiles struggles with his mental health in this. It's alluded to that Kate was sexually abusive to Derek, but it's not a huge topic. I'll try to warn in the notes before the chapter that these things pertain to, so be on the watch for that.


End file.
